


3 Times Dead

by jothending



Series: They Say Fire Took Phandalin [1]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Definitely No Supernatural Activities A-Happenin' Here Folks, F/M, Gen, Note: NOT parallel to canon in the ways you might expect. I would advise against assuming!, despite the title there is no death.... not exactly, modern world but with elves and dwarves and stuff. but (as far as most folks know) no magic!, unless you count kravitz hyuk hyuk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-06 06:13:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16382849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jothending/pseuds/jothending
Summary: Fresh out of grad school, Barry Bluejeans takes a job and a house in the rural nowhere-town of Phandalin. And it’s not like he thought fitting in would be a walk in the park, but the people there all act really weird, and it’s almost like they’re expecting something of him, too.(Small-town supernatural/sorta-haunted-house AU.)** This fic was written for TAZ Bang, so it also contains some fantastic illustrations by my event partners! **





	1. half dreams (new moon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry moves in to Phandalin late at night. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  (The cover is by [me](http://umbraastaff.tumblr.com/)!)

Barry wakes up to the sharp blaring of a horn all around him, which ends the moment he lifts his head off the steering wheel. Slamming his foot on the breaks earns him an indignant _meow_ from the backseat and a wave of abrupt motion sickness, and he panickedly scans the road. He hasn’t gone off the road, thank goodness, and there aren’t any other cars visible on the dark, snow-powdered highway.

It’s the same road he’s been going down for hours, based on directions from yet another random stranger. If it doesn’t get him to the right place--and it’s really looking like it won’t--then it will have been the fifth person today to give him wrong directions to Phandalin.

Well, yesterday, technically. It’s 2:17 A.M.

Minutes later, he sees the sign for the next exit and turns towards it. Not wanting to risk any more driving in his state, Barry pulls into the nearest gas station parking lot and stops there, probably halfway over a line. Under the light of a few streetlamps and a smattering of stars, he turns off his truck and drifts off.

A knock on the window right by his face snaps Barry awake again. It’s still dark, but now there’s a human face outside the window, bushy with sideburns and smiling in a way that looks immediately trustworthy. Barry takes hold of the rotating lever inside the door and rolls down the window, awkwardly and slowly, shivering as the cold air seeps in.

“U-Uh,” he croaks, and then coughs to get his voice back. “Sorry. Hi, c-can I help you?”

“Heya! Are you Barry Bluejeans?”

Barry blinks. “Y...yes? I mean, what’s… How do y-you… know that?”

“Recognized your truck from the description,” the man says. When Barry keeps staring blankly, he adds, “Oh, sorry! I’m Magnus Burnsides. I’m from Phandalin.”

“Oh,” Barry says, and then perks up as he processes the statement. “Oh my god, Phandalin? I-I’ve been trying to find--I’ve been getting shitty d-directions all day, I--thank goodness…”

Magnus grins. “Yeah! I can take you there now, if you’re ready!”

“Actually,” Barry says apologetically, “I’m… exhausted. N-Not sure I’ll--I don’t think I can drive any m-more tonight.”

“I actually don’t have a car with me,” Magnus says, “But I can drive you! Then you can sleep and still get there.”

“You’re h-here without a car? We’re… within walking distance?”

Magnus shakes his head. “Uh, no, I got here by… I don’t really know how it works, actually? Fisher… did something…”

Barry just stares. “Fisher?”

“I honestly don’t get it myself. Lucretia can explain way better when you meet her.”

“Okay,” Barry agrees, certain he’s going to forget this by tomorrow morning.

He and Magnus stare at each other for a few more moments. “Right, so, uh. Y-You’re gonna… drive my truck, then?”

“If you’re alright with it! I actually have a pickup truck too, so I know how to maneuver ‘em.”

Barry nods slowly. It’s either trust this dude or wait even longer to find Phandalin, and he’s had a terribly long day searching for it so far. With that in mind, he opens the door and steps out of the car, handing the keys to Magnus as he walks past him, and around to the passenger door. The winter night air stings his skin, but he’s too tiredly numb to care.

There’s a hissing from the backseat as Magnus gets into the driver’s seat. Barry twists around to face the prickly orange furball that’s in a crate on top of several boxes. “It’s okay, bud.”

He faces forward again and leans back in his seat. “That’s Garfield. He’s usually, uh, better with s-strangers. Probably just grumpy. It was--It’s been a long day f-for us both.”

“No worries,” Magnus reassures him as he starts the truck. “He might also be smelling dogs on me. I have a lot of ‘em.”

“Oh?” Barry asks, despite every nerve in his brain begging him to end the conversation so he can go to sleep. “How many?”

“Four! And I dogsit for a few other folks, too. I’ll introduce you sometime!”

Magnus pulls out of the gas station, back onto the road. Barry watches the snow-covered trees pass by in a mesmerizing pattern.

He’s nearly asleep when Magnus says, “Hey… Might be too early to ask, but what’s your thing?”

“My thing,” Barry repeats, turning the question over in his head. “Uh... biology?”

“No, no, uh… Everyone in Phandalin is like…” Magnus stares out onto the road like he’s trying to find the words out there. “Weird! We’re all weird, like, I’m a werewolf! So you’re not alone.”

Barry laughs, though the joke isn’t really coming together for him. He’s too tired to parse this. “It’s nighttime and you’re h-human, though.”

“Yeah, I’m only a total wolf at the full moon,” Magnus says, sounding far too honest. “I just get kinda hairy on nights close to it.”

The man looks plenty hairy on this new moon, frankly, but Barry just says, “Huh. W-Wouldn’t expect it to, uh, work like that.” He pulls the lever by his seat to let himself lean back.

“Yeah, so…” Magnus says, “Are you…?”

“Well, I-I’m not a werewolf,” Barry says. There’s an endless amount of things he could pretend to be here, but for some reason, the thing that comes to mind is his one party story (which hasn’t actually seen the light of many parties).

“I’ve d-died three times.” Clinical deaths, brought back by CPR or hospital equipment each time. “A-And I’m still, uh, here. And you’d think, y’know, third time’s the charm, r-right? But death failed th-the third time, so…” There’s a snort from Magnus that he quickly tries to hide by pretending to sneeze. “...So I’m immortal.”

“Damn, that’s cool,” Magnus says. “I don’t have nearly as good a story about why I’m a werewolf.”

The lights flying by outside the windows are starting to blur together, and Barry’s eyelids are heavy. “Oh yeah? What’s yours?”

“I got bitten.”

Barry laughs, weak and breathy, about ready to drop out of consciousness.

And then he does.

\--

The truck pulls into Phandalin. Barry stares out onto the street, which is empty and quiet and lit by the stars. The only person outside is an elf, and she watches silently as they pass. Magnus doesn’t acknowledge her, and Barry is too nervous to ask. He feels a prickling heat where the chill of goosebumps should be.

She is brighter than her environment, illuminated by a warm flickering of light and shadow that doesn’t seem to come from anywhere. Barry stares into her piercing eyes, and he’s sure she’s staring into his, but it doesn’t feel quite like their eyes are meeting.

The elf grins, and he catches a glimpse of her fangs just as he wakes up.

The truck’s engine has stopped, and Magnus is shaking Barry’s shoulder. Barry blinks awake and peers through the windshield. The house is surprisingly tall, and it looms in the darkness. In the rearview mirror, a winding driveway stretches out behind them, bringing the house further from the main road than Barry expected.

The two men hop out of the truck, and Barry quickly pulls his coat out of the backseat and puts it on. Magnus whistles. “Neat place! I haven’t actually gotten a look up close.”

“Th-This is my first time with--seeing it in person, too. Was crazy cheap for the size,” Barry says. On account of probably-ancient utilities, and the fact that someone apparently died there. “I d-doubt I’m--doubt I have enough furniture t-to make this place feel, uh, not empty.”

Magnus perks up at that. “Stop by the Hammer and Tongs sometime! We’d be glad to make you some new stuff to fill out your new place. I’ve got a sick chair proficiency!”

Barry laughs. “Sure, I-I’ll check it out.”

“Oh!” Magnus looks back at the truck, with its backseat and flatbed crammed full of boxes and furniture. “Let me help you get your stuff inside.”

“Oh, gosh, I-I couldn’t ask you to--not after everything you’ve already--it’s so late--”

“No, please, I’d love to help! I’m a night owl anyway.”

“Thought you were a wolf,” Barry jokes.

Magnus laughs. “An owl that turns into a wolf! But really, where would you sleep without at least getting your mattress inside? You do have one, right?”

“Alright,” Barry concedes, “Yeah, i-it’s in the back. I think there’s, uh, a bed frame in the house a-already.”

“Cool!” Magnus is already sifting through the back of the truck, wiggling the mattress out from under some boxes.

Barry’s nearly asleep on his feet by the time Magnus agrees to take a break from bringing his stuff inside, with the promise that he’ll be back tomorrow to help with the rest. Barry can’t stop rambling his tired thanks as he gets Garfield into the house and free of his carrier. Magnus just keeps smiling and saying, _no, it’s nothing at all, don’t worry about it._

It turns out the bed frame in the house is far too big for his mattress, so Magnus laid it on the floor next to the bed frame. Barry sinks into it, leaving the bedroom door open so that Garfield can come in if he pleases. And for the final time that night, he falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my good friend fivebrights ([AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fivebrights)/[Tumblr](http://fivebrights.tumblr.com)) for beta reading! She provided invaluable feedback as always and also prevented several plotholes in this fic :')
> 
> If you feel so inclined, you can spread this fic by reblogging it from my [tumblr](http://umbraastaff.tumblr.com/tagged/3-times-dead/)!
> 
> Thank you for reading! A chapter will be posted every day through Friday.


	2. fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry gets to see more of the town...

Barry wakes up to dawn’s light shining through the window. He slowly sits up, rubbing his eyes, and as he takes his hands away from his face, he sees someone standing in the doorway of his room. It’s that elf woman again, and this time he sees her teeth up close. Jeez, she really _does_ have fangs. Elves don’t usually have fangs, right?

Her mouth is open as if to speak, but she says nothing, and then frowns. She beckons to him and starts to walk away down the hall. Barry is too stunned to properly react, but the moment she’s out of sight he jumps up--and immediately regrets it, feeling lightheaded.

“W-What are you doing here? What’s--Who are you?” he asks as he follows her, terrified. “Am I being robbed? I-I literally just moved in, I don’t have…” She just keeps walking silently, turning the corner towards the stairs. When he reaches them, she’s already heading out the door, so he runs out into the early morning daylight.

Or, well, firelight.

The whole town is on fire: the buildings, the trees, the street itself. The sky just barely shows the dim of pre-sunrise light, overshadowed by the brightness of flames on the ground. There's no snow anymore, either, as though it’s all been melted. Nobody is outside at all--Are they already gone? “Oh, god, what’s--are we evacuating? Is that what’s…”

  
[art by Hannah ([@snillywilly](http://snillywilly.tumblr.com))!]

The woman doesn’t respond, only turning back to beckon him again as she walks briskly down the road, seeming unconcerned by the fire she has to step through. As Barry follows, he can’t help but look around at the town he hasn’t even gotten a chance to know. He passes the library, and the school he was going to work at, and the place Magnus mentioned: the Hammer and Tongs. The elf keeps going, past all of them.

The door to Magnus’ shop begins to open, as though someone is just now stepping outside. Terrified for whoever it is, Barry stops in his tracks and begins to shout something to the woman, to help this person too--

There is a silver bell on the door of the shop, and it rings as the door opens. It is a high, sharp terrible sound, and Barry cannot comprehend the shaking of his own soul.

Barry sits up in his bed, sweating and shaking, with daylight--real daylight--shining through the window. He rushes to it, to look out at the town. There is no fire, no elf woman, nothing but a gentle flurry of snowflakes falling past the last traces of a gorgeous sunrise.

\--

The path to the Hammer and Tongs is oddly familiar, as is its logo, though Barry’s sure he’s never seen them aside from whatever he imagined in his dream. Yet the town seems to match his subconscious rendition of its layout eerily perfectly. He must have picked up on more than he thought while he was half-asleep in the truck last night.

The high-pitched ring of a bell accompanies the opening of the door, and it reminds him briefly of the sound of his alarm clock, jolting him. But he remains there, looking up at the tiny silver bell strung up by the door. The sounds weren’t even anything alike.

The inside of the place is a slight mess of a workshop. Stacks of wood planks line the walls around equipment that could be terribly dangerous in the wrong hands. There is a cleared path from the door to the front desk.

Behind the desk is a young woman, who looks up from her book as he enters. Shelves behind her display a few decorations, including a gold cup-style trophy. The inscription is hard to read but might include the word “CHAIR.” There’s also a fish tank with a single goldfish, swimming about lazily.

The woman smiles as he looks around. “Hey there! You must be Barry Bluejeans.” She walks around the desk to reach him. “I’m Julia Burnsides. It’s nice to meet you!”

  
[art by Star ([@roleplaying-fandoms](http://roleplaying-fandoms.tumblr.com))!]

Barry takes the handshake she offers. “Ah, yes, that’s--I’m me. I mean--”

She laughs good-naturedly. “Are you looking for Magnus?”

“Yes! Y-Yeah, I wanted to thank him for, uh, last night. But i-if he’s asleep, I can c-come back later.”

“Nah, it’s nearly noon. Maggie functions on less sleep than most,” Julia says. “Question is, did _you_ get enough sleep? He got back home at nearly 4 a.m. last night.”

Barry nods. “Y-Yeah, I’m good. Just worried about having--about g-getting my, uh, sleep schedule back in gear. You know?”

She smiles sympathetically. “Yeah, that’ll be tough. You’ve got a week till school comes back, though. You’re here to be a teacher, right?”

“Yes! I-I’ll be teaching science--uh, life science, mostly. It’s my first t-time as a full-time teacher, but I’ve been--I’ve worked with kids before.”

“Don’t worry, the bar’s pretty low,” Julia rolls her eyes. “The guy you’re replacing up and left a month before the fall semester ended. Kind of an asshat. Guess I can’t blame him, though… He didn’t belong here.”

“I, uh…” Barry doesn’t know how to respond to that. “Er… will I be teaching anyone of yours?”

“Oh, nope! We don’t have any kids. Maybe someday, though!” She winks. “Oh, but don’t let me keep you! Magnus has been looking forward to showing you around.”

She makes her way around the woodworking equipment to a window at the back of the shop and leans out. “Maggie! The new guy’s here!”

Soon after, the back door opens to Magnus with several dogs on his heels. “Hey, buddies, stay outside, I’ll be back soon,” he says, holding them back as he squeezes through the door. They’re all very big and very excited, and Barry is glad he’s not taking the brunt of their energy.

“I’ll invite you to meet ‘em later, if that’s alright,” Magnus says. “They’ve got some energy to work off! Right now they’d be ready to knock you right over.”

Barry laughs. “Appreciate it.”

“Hey, so did you sleep well? Are you ready to have a tour?”

“Y-Yeah, I slept fine. I have to--uh, I really can’t thank you e-enough for getting me h-here so late. You don’t have to do this too--”

“Nah, I’m happy to!” Magnus claps Barry on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of him. “Plus, it’s Sunday--the weekend! Good time to meet folks.”

The bell startles Barry again on the way out.

\--

Magnus first takes Barry to a little cafe called _Sizzle It Up_. The interior feels small but cozy. The walls are dark wood, but the tall windows let in a healthy supply of sunlight, and several lights hang above the tables with colorful, stained-glass-esque coverings. The tables themselves are round with white surfaces and a finish that’s something like marble.

The only patrons are an elderly dwarf man chatting with a human woman whose age Barry can’t begin to guess. A white cane is leaning against their table--he would assume it to be the dwarf’s, but it looks far too tall to be functional for him--and there’s a complimentary bread basket on the table between them.

An elf man comes from behind the counter in the back, carrying two cups of tea. Something about him unsettles Barry deeply, but it doesn’t hit him until the elf grins. He’s the spitting image of the woman Barry saw on the drive into town last night, right down to the fangs.

  
[art by Horatio ([@squigg-les](http://squigg-les.tumblr.com))!

So maybe he just saw this guy out at night, and had a dream about a half-mistaken version of him. Leading Barry through a flaming version of the town. Sure, that works.

“Oh, perfect!” Magnus says. He gestures to the elf. “Barry, this is Taako, and those two are Merle and Lucretia. Everyone, this is Barry Bluejeans, the new teacher!”

“Uh. Hello,” Barry says nervously. Now that his mind is back on the situation at hand, this is more people than he was led to believe he would have to meet at once.

“Nice to meet you,” Lucretia says, inclining her head. “I’ll be a door over, teaching English.”

“Oh, that’s great! I’m--Well, I-I’m sure you know, but I’m teaching science.”

Merle rolls his eyes. “Thank Pan! I filled in for that douchebag Miller for the last month, but I don’t know shit about plants.” Taako and Magnus both give him a look, and he clarifies, “I mean I don’t know the science side of it! Obviously I know the magic stuff.” He turns to Barry. “Stop by my place if you ever need plant magic, by the way.”

Barry, who has never been offered weed in his life, has no idea how one is meant to react. “U-Uh.”

“He thinks you’re offering him weed,” Taako says. “The old man’s a doctor, Barold. He does healing shit.”

“It’s just Barry,” says Barry, at the same time that Merle says, “I’m a witch, kid.”

Before Barry can question that, Taako speaks up. “Hey, Barry, how ‘bout a tour of the kitchen? One-time offer, since you’re new. The husband’s in the back, too; he’ll want to say hi.”

“O-Oh, sure.”

When Barry and Magnus go to follow him, Taako gives a look to Magnus. “New folks only, bub. You’re on probation for chewing straight through that wooden spoon.”

“Aww,” Magnus whines, but he stays behind, moving back towards Lucretia and Merle’s table. Barry is instantly more anxious without his original tour guide nearby, but he tries not to let it show as Taako leads him through the doorway behind the counter.

The back room is a very nice kitchen, with pots and pans hanging from hooks and a tea kettle on the gas stove. In the corner is another door, likely leading further into the building. Barry feels very warm as he walks in, but not uncomfortably so. Taako lifts the kettle. “Still got some hot water in this bad boy. You like tea?”

“Oh! Uh, yes. A-Any kind is fine.”

“Living on the edge, I see,” Taako remarks. “I’ll be a cool genie. Let’s do green.” He picks a teabag out and drops it into a mug, pours the steaming water into it, and hands it to Barry. Then he picks up another mug that was already sitting on the counter and takes a sip..

“Thank you,” Barry says, and blows on the water as the tea steeps. “This is a-a nice kitchen.”

“Right, yeah, tour,” Taako says absentmindedly, as though he’d already forgotten. “Uhh, here’s the pots and pans. Here’s some spoons, that’s a fridge… cool, great tour from Taako. I hear you’re gonna be teaching my kid?”

“Oh! You’re--You have a kid a-at the school?” Barry brightens up. “Yeah, I-I’m teaching the, uh, science classes. Oh, I already s-said that. Uh. Who’s--What’s your kid’s name?”

“Angus. He’s a real smart kid. Gets bored by the basics pretty easy, but he doesn’t wanna skip five grades to get to where he’s interested, y’feel?” Taako’s tone is casual, but there’s something sharp, watchful about his gaze. Barry gets the impression that he’d better say the _right thing_ here, whatever that is.

“He s-sounds like a, uh--like quite the genius,” Barry says hesitantly, unsure of how literally to take Taako’s boasting. “I’m h-happy to give him something more, uh, more engaging than r-regular classwork, i-if it isn’t interesting. I-I’m… Biology is cool stuff, and I’d h-hate to see a brilliant mind bored by it.”

Taako scrutinizes him for another few tense moments, then nods. “Good, good.”

Just then, a man opens the door in the corner, and through it, Barry can see a staircase coming from the second floor. The man looks bothered by something, glancing this way and that before his eyes rest on Barry. Barry could swear the man’s eyes are bright red for just a moment. He blinks and they’re dark brown instead, but they’re no less piercing.

“Krav!” Taako grins that fanged grin. “This is Barry, the new teach. Barry, this is my husband, Kravitz.”

Kravitz stares at Barry for another moment before blinking and saying, “Ah! Barry, so nice to meet you. I do hope you’re better than the last one.”

“From what I’ve heard, so do I,” Barry says with an awkward laugh.

Kravitz shakes his hand with a firm grip. “I’m actually a teacher at the school as well, so I’m sure we’ll see more of each other.”

The oven starts beeping. “Oh, yeah, cookies,” Taako says, slipping on an unusually ornate oven mitt and pulling a tray of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. They smell like heaven.

Taako offers each of them a napkin with a cookie on it, then scoops several more onto a plate. “Gonna give some to the loiterers.” He makes his way to the door, but lingers there, watching Barry.

Barry takes a bite of his cookie. It nearly burns his mouth, but it’s absolutely worth it, the bite melting like butter. “Wow,” is all he can say once he’s swallowed it. “That’s… wow.”

“Yeah, babe, that’s how Taako _does!”_ Taako grins.

Taako’s energetic intensity leaves the room with him, and now Barry’s alone with Kravitz. He wants to excuse himself, but something about the man’s demeanor discourages him from breaking eye contact. It feels like Kravitz is looking right through him.

After several moments frozen like this, Kravitz breaks the silence. “You’re not immortal.”

It’s such an odd thing to say that Barry abruptly laughs. “What? I-I don’t--Is that a-a threat?”

“No,” Kravitz says, seeming genuinely taken aback. “I don’t want to make an enemy of you, Barry, but I do want to know why you lied to Magnus about what you are.”

Barry cocks his head. Kravitz’s tone really does suggest he’s saying something important, even though, “I-I don’t follow at all, sorry.”

“You told him you’re immortal.”

Barry frowns. “Y-You mean… The story? About how I w-was--About how I’ve d-died a few times?”

When Kravitz nods, he continues, “Really? That’s--it’s a j-joke story I tell. I mean--they were, uh, clinical deaths. I’m not i-immortal, obviously, I--uh, I’ve just been lucky a few times.”

“A joke,” Kravitz repeats, rubbing his forehead.

“I mean, I th-thought that was known mutually, i-in that conversation? We were both--He literally t-told me right after that--he said he was a werewolf.”

Kravitz just stares at Barry for a good long while. Then he says, “Barry Bluejeans, I have no idea how you got here, but I wish you good luck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to fivebrights ([AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fivebrights)/[Tumblr](http://fivebrights.tumblr.com)) for beta reading!
> 
> And the artists, in order of appearance:  
> Hannah ([@snillywilly](http://snillywilly.tumblr.com))  
> Star ([@roleplaying-fandoms](http://roleplaying-fandoms.tumblr.com))  
> Horatio ([@squigg-les](http://squigg-les.tumblr.com))


	3. curiosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh, right--Barry had a reason for coming here.
> 
> He has a job!

“I still d-don’t know what you want,” Barry says desperately to the woman standing impatiently in his doorway. He’s still seated on his mattress.

“I mean, I figure--I get that you want me t-to, uh, cross town. But everything’s on fire, a-and the dream always ends first. Unless--Maybe y-you’re just taking me nowhere? I don’t know. I-I’ve never had a recurring dream this bad--this, uh, persistent before.” He taps his fingertips together. “I-Is my subconscious trying to tell me something?”

As always, she doesn’t seem to understand him, just tapping her foot and pointing down the hall. This time, though, after several minutes of his refusal to follow along, she crosses her arms and sits down in front of him.

“W-Was that right?”he asks. She keeps staring at him, and he sighs. “Or is this--is it just a nonsense dream? Y-You look a lot like Taako, which is… weird? If you’re my subconscious, are you t-telling me he’s hot? I mean, I… I already know I’m bi. And he’s married.”

She frowns as he talks, her expression increasingly frustrated. Barry decides to try using his hands. _I’m B-A-R-R-Y,_ he signs slowly, utilizing what little sign language he knows.

She keeps staring at him, at his hands, and then shakes her head. Her lips move, but they have a blurry, dreamlike quality to them (go figure).

“D-Dammit,” Barry says. I guess I--my hands must look like that w-when I’m signing, too.”

Then Barry puts his hands on his face and shakes his head sharply. “No, no, I’m not--you’re not real. This isn’t--It’s just a d-dream, I’m not gonna--I’m already having a lucid dream where I t-talk out loud to m-myself at the, what, the doppelganger of my coworker’s husband? I hate this.”

She just rolls her eyes, looking bored, and falls back on the floor. Barry tries slapping himself in the face, which doesn’t work any better than it has the last few times. He stands up. “I-I’m--You know what, I’m going t-to stare at the stars u-until I wake up. You can do… w-whatever you want.”

He sits back down by the window opposite the door. The stars are dimmed by the smoke and overshadowed by the firelight below, but it’s a testament to the clarity of the rural sky that he can still make out constellations. It all feels so real, and when he takes a deep breath to center himself, he can feel it in his belly. Dreams aren’t supposed to feel like anything.

In his peripheral vision, Barry sees the elf walk up next to him and crouch down. Their shoulders brush against each other, and she doesn’t quite feel solid, but she feels warm.

Then he wakes up, the ghost of warmth on his shoulder overcoming the rest of the freezing air. He wraps his blanket tighter around himself.

When he glances out the window in the few minutes before sunrise, he realizes the constellations were different in his dream. As though it was the wrong time of year.

\--

“Mornin’,” Barry greets Davenport, who’s situated himself just inside the school’s front doors. The gnome principal is wearing the same red jacket and monocle he had when Barry first met him a few days ago, to get him situated for work. It had all been a terrible rush, but Davenport’s feat of organizational capabilities were a relief.

“Barry! Good to see you,” Davenport smiles up at him. “Been settling in well?”

“Well enough,” Barry says, returning the smile. “The house i-is still pretty drafty, but I’m gonna--I’m arranging with Magnus to improve that.”

Davenport nods. “It’s an old building, but I’m sure you’ll be able to make it feel like home with some time.”

“Yeah. How’s the, uh, garden coming along, by th-the way? You s-said you were, uh, trying some new sorts of plants, right?”

“Oh!” Davenport looks a bit surprised. “Well, it’s only been a few days, so nothing’s sprouted yet. I’ll… Well, I’ll let you know when there’s an update, how about that!”

“Haha, alright,” Barry says, and pauses, looking around at the empty hallway. “Are you… uh, should I stand out h-here too?”

“Ah, no! I’m just here to greet the students for the new semester. And make sure nothing happens in the hallway. You’ll probably want to prepare for the day.”

Barry nods. “Thanks. I-I’ll see you later.”

“Right,” Davenport says, and Barry passes him to head towards his classroom. It’s not far off; Phandalin is a tiny town, and all of its school-aged children can fit into an impressively small amount of grade-combined classrooms. It’s incredible to Barry, who’s never lived anywhere less dense than the suburbs.

\--

The school day goes by with far less trouble than Barry’s anxieties had him prepared for. He spends most of the class periods introducing himself, playing name games to learn about the students, and figuring out how far behind they’ve gotten in the curriculum.

The last period of the day is a combination of Life Science for lower grades and Biology for some upper grades. It includes Taako’s kid, Angus, who really _is_ that bright. In the last bit of class, when Barry gives the students some time to start the first assigned reading and clarify anything confusing, Angus is chock full of questions. They’re interesting, but mostly tangential, so Barry asks him to keep reading so as not to distract other students too much.

When he offers to let Angus stay after class to ask those questions instead, it earns him a bright (and perhaps oddly triumphant) grin.

After class, Angus does indeed stick around, as do a few other, quieter kids. There’s June, who Barry understands to be the sheriff’s daughter, and Mavis, one of Merle’s kids. Within a few minutes, Mookie also enters the room from the departing stream of students and sits next to her.

When the noise of dismissal begins to die down, Barry addresses the four kids waiting in his room. “Do you… _all_ have questions from t-today?” he asks, not bothered, but baffled. He liked school well enough himself as a kid, but he can’t remember ever wanting to stay after on the _first day_ of a new semester. Then again, he supposes, these kids were stuck without a proper teacher for over a month.

“Oh, sorry, sir, I should have asked earlier,” Angus speaks up. “We used to have a club in this class after school, when Dr. Miller was here. We were hoping to keep it up with you!”

“Er… I-I don’t see why not,” Barry says. “What’s the club? S-Something to do with science?”

“When we need extra study time, yes!” Angus says. Barry raises an eyebrow.

From behind him, Mookie interjects, “We solve mysteries!”

“Yes!” Angus points at the younger kid. “That! Is our main purpose!”

“Oh? A-And, uh, what brings mystery-solving to a s-science class?”

“Mysteries and science go hand-in-hand, sir,” Angus says in an automatic, practiced tone. “I mean, all that DNA analysis and footprint-identifying--That’s science!”

“Also, Miss Lucretia and Mister Davenport are busy, and it’d be weird for Angus t’be in a club supervised by Mister Kravitz,” June says, a hint of smugness in her tone.

“N-No! My dad’s busy, too,” Angus insists. June titters.

“Okay, l-let’s be nice,” Barry speaks up, addressing everyone. “And speaking of, uh, parents, d-do you all have permission to stay today?”

“We asked mom this morning,” Mavis affirms, gesturing to herself and Mookie.

“M’dad’s always fine with me stayin’ late,” June says. “He’s always out ‘n busy ‘till the evening anyhow.”

Before Angus can speak for himself, as though on cue, Kravitz pokes his head through the door. “Hello, I’m just--Oh, the kids are doing this club again? Barry, you know there’s no obligation to--”

“No, no, I’m--it’s no trouble,” Barry says. “I’m h-happy to stay with them.”

“Well, in that case, thank you very much,” Kravitz nods to him. “I’ll be heading out for the day. Angus, make sure you’re home by dinner time.”

“Of course,” Angus says, and Kravitz closes the door again.

“So,” Barry begins to stack up the papers on his desk that were scattered by use throughout the day. “What s-sort of, uh, mysteries do you solve?”

“Our biggest mystery…” Angus spreads his arms out wide in a dramatic gesture. “...is Phandalin! There’s a big secret being kept here, sir, and we’re going to figure it out!”

“What sort o-of secret?” Barry asks. He doesn’t know how big a mystery some preteen-ish kids could be onto, but there’s no reason not to be supportive.

The kids all look delighted at the chance to explain. Mookie manages to speak fastest. “The adults ‘re hiding somefin!”

“Something big!” Mavis adds.

Barry raises his eyebrows. “What makes you think so?”

“The fire,” June says. “You wouldn’t be able ta tell now, but ten years ago, there were a big fire that, well, it burned down practically th’ whole town.”

Barry feels warm, and not in a comfortable way. It’s the half-burning sensation of running away from flames in his dreams. He wonders if he’s heard of the fire in Phandalin at some point without consciously remembering--maybe that could explain some of his recurring dreams.

“But get this!” Angus holds up his index finger for emphasis. “Soon after the fire had overtaken everything, it vanished from everywhere in the town! I saw it myself, and so did June. And… and my aunt was gone after that, but nobody will tell me anything, even my daddy!”

Worried about getting his nose into family politics he’s got no business prying in, Barry holds in his questions about that part of the story. “Er… you and June both? I know J-June is, uh, fourteen, but wouldn’t you have been… l-less than a year old, ten years ago?”

“Oh! My apologies for not clarifying, sir,” Angus says. “Ten is my age in the equivalent of human years, but that isn’t the amount of earth-revolutions I’ve existed. I’m likely older than you, physically speaking! Dragons live quite a long time.”

Barry stares at him. Is that a thing, in this town? Introducing yourself as a supernatural animal to newcomers? Or maybe it’s some kind of game, like some LARP thing Magnus does with the kids. But then why would Angus have the same memory as June? The girl seems to be taking him seriously enough.

“Uh, right,” Barry says. “So you both saw… this? An e-enormous fire, just… vanishing.”

June nods. “I was pretty young back then, but everyone else remembers, too! I checked.”

“But I thought th-they wouldn’t say--wouldn’t tell you anything?” Barry doesn’t mean to poke holes in the story, if it really is just some game they’re making up, but something about this whole scenario is itching in his mind.

June looks exasperated. “I can see memories when I’m touchin’ people. Everyone in th’ town saw that fire disappear, and the damages later were jus’ too bad for it to be some big ol’ mass illusion.”

Perhaps playing along is the best way to do this. “But I suppose there’s--There must be someone a-around who can create illusions?”

“We’ve thought about Davenport, but I don’t think he can do anything that big,” Angus shakes his head. “And I can’t imagine he would! He only ever uses small misdirections to hide his things, and for the most part, people aren’t nosy enough to even warrant that.”

“Oh, is he, uh, a magician?”

“A leprechaun, actually,” Angus says, then hesitates. “I’m sorry, I--should I be telling you this? It’s not a secret or anything, but… it’s weird that you don’t know about anyone.”

“Er, well,” Barry tries, “I know that Magnus i-is a werewolf.”

Angus nods. Mavis frowns. “He doesn’t believe any of this.”

“N-Now, that’s not true,” Barry lies. “I’m just unfamiliar with… a-all this stuff.”

“No, you-you’re just like Dr. Miller!” Mavis realizes, eyes widening.

It’s such a dramatic declaration that Barry isn’t sure whether to take it seriously or start roleplaying a villain.

“Hey’s wayyy nicer than Dr. Miller,” Mookie protests.

“Miss Lucretia acted way different about Dr. Bluejeans than him, remember?” Angus frowns. “She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. She never does!”

“But what if she did?”

“I’m afraid I-I’m lost,” Barry interrupts. “I don’t know Dr. Miller, uh, personally, but is there s-something that I’ve… done wrong here?”

“No,” Angus says at the same time that Mavis says, “Yes.”

June rolls her eyes. “They wanna know if yer a regular human.”

“June!” Angus chides. “We’re not supposed to ask.”

June shrugs. “He wanted t’know. No point hidin’ it if y’all are just gonna argue in front’a his face anyhoo.”

Mavis just watches Barry for his reaction.

Barry knows what to say. “Well, I’ve died three times.”

\--

The kids never get back to their investigation, instead throwing their caution to the wind and asking Barry all about the times he’s ‘died’ for the next hour or so. He answers as honestly as he can, with a little exaggeration here and there to make them sound a bit more real than they were. Sure, he died, but they were clinical deaths, and nothing supernatural was involved.

He refrains, this time, from saying he’s immortal. He really doesn’t want Kravitz upset with him for telling his _son_ he’s immortal, too.

After the kids have left and Barry finishes straightening up his things, he starts to head out for the evening. Just before he passes one of the neighboring doors, though, he starts to hear voices coming from inside, and he pauses. He recognizes both of them, and against his better moral judgment, he sticks around to listen.

“Look,” Davenport says, “You said the same thing about Lucas, and look how that turned out. Barry’s a lot nicer, I’ll give him that, but he gives off a very… normal vibe.”

“Well, things aren’t always as they seem,” Lucretia responds. “You would know.”

“Would I? Because I’m really not feeling like I know anything right now.” There’s a distinct sigh. “If he isn’t the _seventh,_ then this is another flop. And we don’t have nearly enough time! Not to mention, none of this even matters if we can’t find Lup--”

“Fisher is sure this time,” Lucretia says firmly. “And I’ll remind you, this is the prediction you came down and lucked up yourself. Just have patience.”

“Fine.” Davenport sighs. Barry hears the shuffling of papers being picked up, and he takes that as his cue to creep silently back to his own classroom, afraid to pass in front of Lucretia’s door. “I-I’m sorry, Lucretia. It’s been a tense few months. I shouldn’t have…”

The voice becomes inaudible as Barry slips back into his room, taking a deep breath once he’s there. The edges of the papers he’s holding are all scrunched up from his tense grip. He nearly jumps out of his skin when a voice comes through his doorway.

“Barry?” It’s Davenport. “I didn’t expect you to still be here.”

“Ah, y-yeah, just cleaning up,” Barry says. “I was--the kids, uh, they--there was a science club.”

“Oh, they got you in on that?” Davenport smiles. “Well, that’s good. How was your first day of work?”

“Ah, g-good! Good. Good kids. Good… place. Yeah. Good.” Barry puts his papers down on the desk, changes their order arbitrarily, and picks the stack back up.

Davenport raises an eyebrow, but he looks more amused than concerned. “Well, that’s… good. I’m headed home now, but I’ll see you around, Barry. Glad to have you as part of the team.”

“Right, yes, I-I, uh… Glad to be here. Th-thank you.”

Barry waits a solid few minutes after Davenport leaves before departing himself. It isn’t until he’s passing by Lucretia’s classroom again that he realizes she still hasn’t left. She’s writing something down at her desk, and in his moment of pause, she looks up.

“Ah, you’re still here? Did the kids rope you into that science club?” she asks with a knowing smile. Too knowing, maybe.

“Yeah,” Barry says with a nervous laugh. “They-They’re nice kids, and I don’t m-mind elaborating on the topics.” Not that he did much of that this time around.

Lucretia nods, then says, “Er, I’m rarely so forgetful, so I hope you’ll forgive me, but… May I have your name?”

Weren’t she and Davenport _just_ talking about him? And she’s even met him personally. “Oh, uh, n-no worries. My name’s Barry Bluejeans.”

“Barry Bluejeans,” she repeats slowly. “You look troubled.”

He wasn’t aware it was showing on his face. She looks at him expectantly until he speaks. “Oh, uh, I’m alright. It’s just, uh, fitting in is a slow process. Still feels like everyone’s questioning w-whether I… belong here.” Literally.

“Oh, don’t worry too much,” Lucretia says kindly. “It’s a small town. Newcomers are rare. Stay open-minded, and I’m sure you’ll feel like you fit in soon.”

He gives her as much of a smile as he can muster. “I hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, kids say the wildest things, huh? Ha ha...
> 
> Thanks again to my friend fivebrights ([AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fivebrights)/[Tumblr](http://fivebrights.tumblr.com)) for beta reading!


	4. half dead (full moon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's been 2 weeks now.
> 
> what was it that happens on a full moon, again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for some (not-terribly-descriptive) violence/injuries. Nothing more serious than canon-typical stuff.

It’s barely Saturday, with the time just having crossed the barrier of midnight, when Barry wakes up in yet another dream. “It’s earlier than usual,” he comments to the dream lady as he looks at his alarm clock. Not that time is real here, but she’s usually around in what the clock says are the hours before dawn.

She beckons him, pointing down the hall. She’s blurred at the edges, and the stars outside are still wrong for the season, and the fire outside is always burning at the same height without really consuming anything. Despite it all, Barry could almost forget that this isn’t real.

He watches her for a few moments before shrugging and standing up. “Alright, l-let’s try again,” he says, though she still can’t hear him.

As they descend the stairs, Barry hears something slam from outside--behind the house--and then some scrabbling. He sees the woman jump, too, and then they meet eyes. It takes him a moment to realize that this is the first time they’ve actually made eye contact--and then they are both rushing away from the door, down the stairs to the basement.

There’s nothing _in_ the basement, which is a relief. But there are still violent sounds from outside: scuffling and some canine yelps. The woman crosses the room to the back door and peers through the little window while Barry catches his breath.

When he walks up to her, she steps aside, looking anxious. Outside by the woods, illuminated by fire and moonlight, there’s a fight happening between a wolf and… something.

The wolf seems huge, though Barry has little personal frame of reference. Barry would be scared of this creature, probably, if the other thing in his field of vision wasn’t _so much worse._

The other thing is a dark, amorphous shape, glimmering with an iridescent sheen wherever the full moon’s light catches it. There are eyes all over it, crazed and full of an endless fury. Barry finds himself glad that they’re all focused on the wolf and not him.

The wolf looks injured, taking hit after hit from this monster, but it can’t seem to land any return blows. Its teeth gnash at empty air, its claws swiping just next to the eldritch assailant. Barry tenses up, finding himself rooting for the wolf. If only it wasn’t so _incredibly bad_ at landing any hits at all, maybe it could stop this hellish creature.

Barry sees movement in his peripheral, and finds the woman reaching towards the door handle. She stops before touching it, and glances at Barry.

“Oh my god, don’t open that,” he says, alarmed.

She points at the handle instead, then mimes opening it, and points at Barry.

“W-What? _I’m_ not opening it!”

She looks upset now, urgency written all over her face. She grabs Barry’s wrist and drags it towards the door.

“Okay, I--okay, jeez!” he exclaims, trying to wriggle his hand free of her grasp. Her grip is iron, but she releases him after a few moments of his struggling.

“I g-guess, uh, if it’s just a dream…” he concedes, reaching for the door on his own. If these dreams really are messages from his subconscious, then letting nightmares in through the backdoor must symbolize something terrible.

The door’s lever-handle feels strange to grab. He realizes he’s always followed behind the woman, letting her open doors for him. Why does she want him to do it now?

His hand feels like a magnet that the door handle is repelling, and when he finally clamps his hand down on it, a coldness prickles up his arm. Everything else, all his senses--they’re all fuzzy, so much more dreamlike than he realized, but his hand on the door is _real._ He’s awake, but only right there.

Barry starts pushing down on the door handle, and it’s so much more difficult than it’s ever been while he was awake. He leans forward, locking his elbow and using the weight of his entire upper body. The coldness spreads up into his chest, threatening to freeze him over.

When the handle finally comes down, he pulls the door back _hard,_ but it takes a whole lot less effort than he expected. The door flings open, and he jumps back just as it swings around to hit the wall--

Barry wakes up to a _bang_ downstairs, a pulse of adrenaline rushing through his veins as he sits up in bed. His heart is pounding from his dream, and he takes a few deep breaths to steady it.

It was just a dream. That sound was just a residual echo of it as he woke up, he reasons, and the rest was too absurd to be anything.

Still, Barry feels nervous about what could now be downstairs. Chalk it up to that heightened 1AM anxiety, but he _has_ to check or he’ll never go back to sleep.

And so Barry ends up walking down the stairs to his basement on a barely-Saturday, far more worried now that he’s doing it in real life, and not accompanied by anyone, imaginary or not.

He opens the basement door quickly, to get it over with. The door is indeed closed, as he was hoping--no, _expecting_ \--but there’s something else, too. A pair of yellow eyes, glimmering in the dark, that turn quickly to face him when he walks in.

Before even starting to reason about this situation, Barry flips on the lights. The wolf is there, the entire huge fucking wolf, the one that was outside in his dream but now it’s _inside_ and this is _real life._

He’s completely paralyzed as the animal stares at him. Slowly, it bows its head and steps back, then lies on the ground in front of the back door. Barry just stares at it, at the snow powdering its back (it wasn’t snowing in the dream…), afraid to move or do anything that might set it off.

They’re there for an eternity in this silent standoff, with Barry trying to muster up the courage to shut the door, run off, call the police, _anything._ The wolf isn’t doing anything but looking down. He doesn’t know what that means and it’s freaking him out, and then--

And then?

The wolf’s hair starts to… recede? And its whole body is shrinking to the ground like a pile of goop melting down, but less messy. Slowly but surely, it solidifies into a human shape, lying flat on his face on the ground, in the nude. Most visible parts of his body are covered in wounds, and as he turns his head awkwardly to face Barry, it becomes clear that the man is Magnus Burnsides.

Shivering, Magnus says, “I-I-I’m sorry for barging in, I--there was a th-thing attacking me, a-and-and your door came open… S-sorry for scaring y-you, you d-didn’t know who I was--”

Barry says, “What the hell.”

“Uh,” Magnus says, “I c-can leave now, if y-you, uh, want. I’m really s-s-sorry.” He plants his hands on the ground as though to get up, but then wheezes and shakes with the effort and doesn’t go through with it.

“You just--You were a wolf,” Barry says blankly, wide-eyed.

Magnus stares at him for a good long moment. “I-I mean, it’s a f-full moon. Do you not know what a werewolf is, or…?”

“Werewolves a-aren’t real,” Barry starts pacing back and forth. “I can’t--I don’t--Is this still a dream?” Then he looks at Magnus again and properly takes in the wounds and lack of clothes and the fact that he’s wet from half-melted snow in this _freezing cold_ basement. “Oh, holy shit.” He runs upstairs to find supplies. Help first, shock later.

He gets some of his loosest-fitting clothes first. Barry’s a heavy guy, but Magnus has _beef_ and about a foot on him. He ends up getting a T-shirt he usually uses as a nightgown, and some shorts, before moving to the closet where he buried a first-aid kit--jeez, he really should’ve put it in a more accessible place--and then swipes the duvet off his bed and drags it quickly back down to Magnus.

“Oh, I th-thought the fear kicked in and I was j-just gonna be stuck here,” Magnus comments. “I wasn’t sure whether to try g-getting up again.”

“Sorry.” Barry lays the clothes and blanket next to Magnus. “Are you--can you move? Can you put these on?”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Magnus says. With some struggle, he starts getting up, and Barry instantly turns around and walks across the room. Magnus’ laugh turns into a grunt of pain, and Barry can hear the shuffling sound of clothing being put on.

“Oh, uh,” Barry adds, “maybe l-leave your shirt off, uh, for now. So I can get some b-bandages on you.”

Magnus wraps himself in the duvet instead, and they both migrate upstairs to work on the couch. Barry ends up having to look online for how to properly use bandage tape while Magnus tries to configure the blanket in a way that doesn’t cover his injuries.

“We h-have to--We gotta get you to a doctor first thing in the morning,” Barry says as he starts. “I mean, i-if you’re--if you can e-explain these injuries, I guess? Do y-you just--Do you tell everyone you’re a werewolf? D-Do people _believe_ that?”

“Dude,” Magnus hisses through the sting of disinfectant. “Everyone in Phandalin is something like me. Even Merle--the doctor--he’s a witch. And Taako’s a vampire, and… I don’t know, I guess maybe I shouldn’t tell you this? If you’re really not…”

It sounds like a goddamn cartoon that he’s just walked into, but a wolf did just turn into Magnus Burnsides before his very eyes, so… “Oh, god,” Barry says, feeling almost dizzy, “Next thing y-you’re gonna tell me is, uh, Taako’s dream doppelganger i-is real, too.”

“Taako’s…” Magnus twists around to face Barry with wide eyes, and Barry yelps as his bandage application is disrupted. “You met Lup?!”

“Jeesh, w-warn a guy!” Barry exclaims, trying to hold the bandage in place despite the movement. Magnus apologizes and turns forward again, but he’s tenser now.

“W-Who’s Lup?”

“Lup is… Okay, look, don’t go asking him questions about this, but she’s Taako’s twin sister. And a good friend of mine, too. But there was this massive fire through the whole town a decade ago, and… She did something that stopped the flames, and then she vanished. But Kravitz says she’s not dead, so she isn’t. And she wouldn’t have just _left_ after something like that… It’s not like her.”

“Angus’ aunt,” Barry realizes faintly. “Oh m-my god, wait, Angus is really--actually a dragon.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. But you said you were having dreams about Lup? Have you talked to her? How are you--Oh shit, you _are_ magic! Do you know where she is?”

“We h-haven’t, uh, talked, exactly,” Barry says. “She just tries to get me to go across town every night.”

“Have you been listening to her?” Magnus asks. “She gives good advice.” He pauses. “Usually.”

Barry shrugs as he places the last of the bandages. “I always wake up first. A-And this time, tonight, w-we were interrupted by y-you fighting with--uh, fighting whatever the hell that thing was, jiminy christmas, was th-that real too?”

“Oh, right, man,” Magnus takes a deep breath. “I don’t know what I was fighting. It was invisible, but god, it hurt like hell. Wait, could _you_ see it?”

“I-In the dream,” Barry says, “It was… some horrible eldritch thing. A-And she--uh, Lup--wanted me to help you out r-real bad, so… Well, it d-does seem like she still is-- still considers you a friend.”

Magnus smiles. “Thanks.” Then, “Oh, wait. Have you tried falling asleep in another part of town? Like, already being where she wants you to be?”

Barry blinks. “No. B-But I also don’t know where I c-could, uh, do that.”

“We can figure it out! I’ll ask someone. You _have_ to,” Magnus insists. He gets up as though he’s going to drag Barry out the door right this instant.

“Whoa, whoa,” Barry says. “I-It’s nearly two in the A.M. Let’s, uh, let’s do it tomorrow, o-okay? W-We’re both off work Sunday, and we can--we’ll figure out this whole mess. I r-really need to go back to sleep, and, so do you. Gotta h-heal.”

Magnus reluctantly sits back down, and Barry moves to the armchair perpendicular to it. “I’m gonna sleep here.” Then, as Magnus begins to object, he adds, “I f-fall asleep easily, and you--you’re injured. Sleep on the--on the couch, and give me a holler if something--if anything starts hurting worse.”

\--

Deep below the library, Lucretia stands before a massive tank containing an enormous, luminescent jellyfish. She watches it unblinkingly as it sings a haunting song: a dire warning.

“It’s here?” she asks, although she already knows the answer.

With a few more terrible notes, her fears are confirmed. This will be a worrisome night yet.

“I have to warn them.”

\--

Elsewhere in Phandalin, one Merle Highchurch is returning home from walking off midnight insomnia. As he nears his house, he sees someone in the distance, looking like he’s just walked into town.

Merle doesn’t have the best eyesight, frankly, but from the shape and size of the fellow combined with what little Merle can make out of his face, he doesn’t recognize the person at all. And it’s… unusual for a stranger to enter Phandalin. Even more unusual for them to be unexpected.

So Merle calls out, heading towards the figure. “Hey, hello? I can’t see great from this distance, buddy, so how ‘bout you tell me who you are?”

The man wheezes as Merle comes nearer, sounding like he’s trying to talk and not quite managing to. Then he drops to his knees.

Merle comes running over, and as he does, the moonlight grants him a clearer look at the man’s features: dark hair with flecks of grey, sunken eyes, a nice suit. Definitely not anyone who lives in town, but that’s the least of Merle’s concerns now.

“Hey, hey, we’re gonna get you some help, don’t you worry.” He gets an arm under the man’s shoulder, helping him stand back up. “Come on, this way.”

\--

It’s on this night that Barry Bluejeans dies for the thirty-eighth time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [kravitz voice] BARRY DID WH
> 
> Thanks for reading!! Keep an eye on the series this fic is in ([They Say Fire Took Phandalin](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1167371)) if you're interested in reading the sequel! The tentative WIP title for that is _2 Legends Risen_.
> 
> If you wanna read more of my Barry Bluejeans (and Kravitz), you may enjoy [I Saw Seven Bounties](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12827445)!
> 
> And a big thank you again to fivebrights ([AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fivebrights)/[Tumblr](http://fivebrights.tumblr.com)) for beta reading! Really did help this fic out of some continuity-holes, there.


End file.
